Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) today announced that the company has been named on the 2012 Newsweek Green Rankings for a fourth straight year.

Hormel Foods ranked No. 421, moving up eight spots from No. 429 in 2011 and 21 spots from No. 442 in 2010 on the annual ranking, which compares the environmental performance of America’s largest publicly traded companies. Within the Food, Beverage and Tobacco sector, Hormel Foods ranked No. 19, up from No. 21 in the sector in 2011.

“Corporate responsibility is a team effort at Hormel Foods,” said Julie H. Craven, vice president of corporate communications at Hormel Foods. “Our employees have a real commitment to our successes in the areas of people, products, process, performance and philanthropy, and we are honored to continue being recognized for these accomplishments.”

To produce the 2012 Green Rankings, Newsweek collaborated with leading environmental research providers, Trucost and Sustainalytics, to assess each company’s environmental footprint, management of that footprint, and transparency. The Green Rankings focus on the largest publicly traded companies in America (the U.S. 500 list) and worldwide (the Global 500 list). Each list consists of the largest 500 companies by revenue (most recent fiscal year), market capitalization, and number of employees, as of April 30, 2012.

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products, many of which are among the best known and trusted in the food industry. The company leverages its extensive expertise, innovation and high competencies in pork and turkey processing and marketing to bring branded, value-added products to the global marketplace. The company is a member of the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index, S&P Dividend Aristocrats for 2012, Maplecroft Climate Innovation Indexes, Global 1000 Sustainable Performance Leaders and was again named one of “The 100 Best Corporate Citizens” by Corporate Responsibility Magazine for the fourth year in a row. The company enjoys a strong reputation among consumers, retail grocers, foodservice and industrial customers for products highly regarded for quality, taste, nutrition, convenience and value. For more information, visit https://www.hormelfoods.com.